Remote control system



N 1943- c. H. WRIGHT ETA L 2,453,173

REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Aug. 25, 1937 2 Shets-Sheet 1 INV ENTORS CHM/RIGHT GEQACHADWICK PAULWBURK gaA/ia ATTORNEY C. H. WRIGHT EF'AL Nov. 9, 1948.

' REMOTE CONTROL sYs TEM 2 Sheets-She s; 2

Filed Aug. 25, 1937 INVENTORS V C.H.WRIGH T GEO.-A.CHADWICK B- DAUL W.

BURK a.

ORNEY Patented Nov. 9, 1948 Garleton' H. .Wright, United. .States; Navy, and

George A. Chadwick and Paul W. Burk, Wash,-

ington, 1).. (1.

Application August: 25, 1927, Serial No. 160,936

2 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3-70 0. G. 757') This invention relates to means for controlling a member that is to be mechanically moved at a distance from the controllnigmember, and has, among, its several objects, that of providing a simpler system than those heretofore used for the laying offguns at a distance from the director and for the. remote. control of like mechanisms inv general.

Inthe drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic showing of one, system embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is. a face view of one of theshutters or light controldiscs;

Fig. 3 is a schematic showing of a modified form of our invention;

.Figsd and dare face views of the two shutter discs of Fig. 3 in different relative. positions; and

Figs. 6 and l are separate. face views of the two shutter discs of Fig. 3. The mechanism shown in. Fig.1 is for elevating and depressing the gun and iscontrolled by the pointers telescopeB that is rotatable about a horizontal axis 9 and is fixed to a gear quadrant lfi. meshed with a pinion H on the shaftv l2 of. the

rotor of the low speed transmitter [3. of the. Selsyn type. Fixed on shaft i2 is a gear M which, through the. gears l5, l6. and H, drives the. rotor oi the high speed transmitter [8, also of the Selsyn type. The constructionv and operation of the Selsyn transmitters and receivers are so well known that no detailed descriptionthereof will be. given herein. The transmitterslil and 58 are. operatively connected to the rotors l9 and of the Selsyn receivers 2i and- 22, thesaid connection being. represented by a single line in each case for purpose. of simplifying the drawing.

Upon the shafts 2'3 and 23 of the rotors l9 and 20,. respectively, are mounted thev shutters or light control discs 24' and 2.5. These shutters are identicat in construction but ior purpose ofconvenience indescription and discussion they are given dii-- ferent. reference characters. As is-shownin the disc 24 consists of two.partshavingjdifferent radii, the portion oig-reater radius beingsomewhatlamore thangasemi-circlein angularv Xtent. The. crosses 26. and 2.1 in Fig. z indicate theposi-i tions on thesshutter of the beams of lightcon-g trolled by the shutter when theshutter isv in its neutral; position. The photoelectric cells 2.8 and 29 are mounted adjacent-thedis fi onone side thereof, the light sources 30 and. ii are mounted onthe opposite side of the disc, and the conve'rg: i-ng lenses 32 and 33am positioned betweenthe. li h u es 30. and 3 and he-m eri 15. 2a and a r spec y. o: met-the iss e 19 .aih

lens lies in the plane of. the disc. Thuathe. cross sectionof. the beam in the plane of the disois small and, a quick cut-off is attained, the. said focusstriking the discat the point. 26 or 21, Fig. 2, as the case may be. It is. to be understood that, instead. of focusing the beams of light, the cross sectional area thereof .may be limited by a. mask adjacent the disc, provided with a slot or small aperture for the passage of light.

The photocells 2a and. 28. are connectedas in.- dicated at 34' and 35, to two amplifiers. in. the box 35 and these amplifiers are respectively connected to solenoids 3.! and 3.8- as indicated at 39 and 4.11, respectively. It is apparent that clockwise rotation of disc 24 in Fig. 2- will permit the light from source 30 topass to the photocell 28 and theoutput of, the cell will be. amplified to energize the solenoid 3'! which will draw toward the solenoid the. pilot valve stem ll and move the valve pistons 42 and 43 to permit a flow of liquid under pressure from the gear pump 54 throughpassage 45 into servomotor cylinder 36 to movethe piston 41 toward the left, the return of fluid from the lefthand side of piston 31 taking place through passages 48, 19 and 50.

The connecting rod 5i is connected to piston M and also to the control lever 52 that actuates the tilting box of a reversible hydraulic gear 53 of the Waterbury type or the like. The. gear 53. is driven by a motor54 and the output of the gear is transmitted by shaft 55 to a worm E6 meshed with gear 57' to which is. connected a gear .53 meshed with a gear sector 53 to tilt the gun 60 about its trunnion 5!. In like manner, the photocell 29 will be exposed to light when the disc 24 rotates in the counter-clockwise direction and the. output there of is amplified and transmitted to the solenoid 38 to. move the. piston valves 42 and 63 to the left, thus permitting a flow of liquid under pressure from. pump d4 into the left-hand end of cylinder 4.6 which. moves connecting rocliii to the left and changes the setting of the tilting boxof gear 5.3 to movegun Bill in the opposite angular sense about its trunnions.' The hydraulic mechanism for operating the tilt-ins: hoxmay be. omitted and suit able solenoids-be directly connected to the tilting has control lever 52, ifdesired; The gears I5, 1'6 and ll multiply the rotatlonoi shait. l2 and, consequently, turn the rotor of transmitter 18 faster. than the rotor of transmitter l3 isfdriven by shaft l2- The light from sources 6.2 and 63'is focused by the. lenses 6.4 and 65 and is intercepted'by the. disc 25 when in its neutralposition or. light. from one of theother of photocell 66 or photocell 61, depending upon the direction of rotation of the disc in the same manner as has been heretofore described in connection with disc 24. The box 58 contains two amplifiers respectively connected. tothe photocells 68 after the amplifier is deenergized by shutting off the light to cells 28 and 29.

As is well known in this art, the movement of disc 24 is, for a given movement, of the telescope 8, relatively samll and gives a coarse or high speed control while the rotation of disc 25 is several times as great foreachmovement of the telescope 8 and gives a fine or low speed control. For example, a rotation of the telescope through one degree may be inadequate to move the disc 24 sufficiently to permit one of the photocells 28 or 29 to be energized whereas that same small movement may cause the disc 25 to be rotated through several degrees and, ,hence, will cause a small movement to be imparted to'the gun. It is obvious both the high speed and the low speed mechanism energize the same solenoid at any given time, except when the coarse control disc is in position to cut off the light while the fine control disc is still displaced from the light-intercepting position.

Miter gear I3 on shaft is connected through gear I4, shaft 15, and gears I6 and I! to shaft 23 which in turn is connected through the train of gears I9, and BI to the stator of receiver El and through the train of gears 82, 83 and 8 3 to the stator of receiver 22. rotatably mounted and the system of gears and shafts just mentioned constitutes a follow-up system by which the rotation of shaft 55 causes the movement of discs 24 and 25 back to their neutral positions so that light is cut off from all the photocells when the gun has moved through the angular distance corresponding to any given movement of telescope 8, it being understood that the rotation of the stator of receiver 2I,is in the same proportion to the rotation of the stator of receiver 22 as is the angular movement of the rotor of transmitter I3 to the angular movement of the rotor of transmitter I8.

It may happen that a casualty will render the remote control system above described inoperative and we have, therefore, made provision for manual control of the hydraulic gear 53. Cranks are connected to shaft 85 upon which is fixed a bevel gear 87 which drives shaft 88 through gear 89, shaft 90, and gears 9| and 92. A clutch member 93'is'feathered on'sh'aft'88 to'be slidable therealong by means of lever 94 whereby the clutch member '95. may be engaged with or disengaged fromthe clutch member or sh'aftj95'upon which is'jfixed: the gear 91. A shaft 98 is connected" to shaft 5| by a collar .99 so that'lon'gitudinal movement of shaft. 98 will be transmitted to lever 52 but the shaft 98is free to rotate independently of the connecting rod 5|. A gear I00 is meshed with gear 91 and has a splined connection to shaft 98 so that rotation of the gear I00 will be imparted to the shaft 98'but the shaftrnay move longitudinally with respect to the gear The free end pfsha t 98.1. p cv e ith h s! o high pitch which engages threads in "a gear I 02 These stators are 2 that is meshed with gear I03 on shaft 55. The gear I02 is mounted to be held against movement parallel to shaft 98 and, therefore, when the clutch members 93 and 95 are engaged and the handles'85 are turned, the rotation of shaft 98 through the gears and shafts connecting the handles 85 to shaft 98 will cause the shaft 98 to move longitudinally due to the engagement of threads IOI with the threads in gear I02 and so will move lever 52 to change the position of the tilting box of hydraulic gear 53 and change the elevation of gun 60. It is apparent that the rotation of shaft 55 will be imparted to gear I02 through gear I03 and, therefore, a follow-up action is secured that will move the control lever V 52 to its neutral position when the gun has exe- 1 shafts H2 and H3 of rotors I05 and I01. shutter disc H0 is shown in face view in Fig. 7

. cuted, an angular movement about its trunnions 6i proportionate to the rotation of cranks 85.

The thread IOI is made with high pitch so that longitudinal movement of rod 5i by piston 41 will push the shaft 98 through the gear I02 in spite of the threaded connection. This will result in rotation of shaft 98 but the only effect thereof will be to cause gears I00 and 91 to turn idly.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a form of our invention that requires but two photoelectric cells. The conductors I04 and I05 connect the rotors I06 and I0! of receivers I08 and I09 to the high speed transmitter I8 and the low speed transmitter I3, respectively. As in the form of invention. above described, the rotors of the receivers I08 and I09 are rotatable and the shutter discs III) and III are respectively mounted on the The wherein it is seen that it is similar to discs 24 and 25. However, the shutter disc III has notches H4 cut back into it from the radial face between the portion I I5 of greater radius and the portion N6 of less radius, the radially outermost face of each of the notches H4 being of the substantially same radius as the portion of greater radius in the disc H0. The discs H0 and III are mounted close together and in their neutral positions they are as shown in Fig. 4 wherein the notches IM are blanked off by the portion of greater radius of disc IIO. Photocells II! and H8 are mounted on the opposite sides of the discs from light sources H9 and I20 and are so disposed that thelight from'the said sources focused by the lenses I2I, I22, I23 and I24 is cut off from the photocells by the discs when in their neutral position, the points on the discs corresponding to the said foci being indicated by the crosses I25 in Fig. 4. Reflectors I28 are provided to concentrate the light from the sources upon the several lenses.

The output from cell II8 passes through conductor I27 to an amplifier I28 and the amplified current is transmitted over conductor I29 to solenoid 31. Likewise, photo cellI'I'I is-connected to solenoid 38 through conductor 430, amplifier I3I, and conductor I32.

As may be seen by an inspection of passage of light through a notch Il I tic-"energize one "of the photoelectric cells and'so'm'ov'e the'pi's ton valves 42 and -43 as to cause a small change in the elevation of the gun controlled thereby; If a considerable rotation is given to thete'lescope 8, the disc III will be moved in the same direction as is H0 and since, as in the other modification of our invention, the low speed or coarsecontrol is designed to take charge when both the coarse' and the fine controls -are a'ctusmall rotation ofshutter disc I I0 will permit the ated simultaneously, it is immaterial what position is thereafter assumed by the disc l Ill. Since the disc Ilfl moves through several times the angle that is passed through by the disc l l l, due to its greater rotation for a given movement of the telescope 8, the disc H0 may assume a position with respect to disc III as shown in Fig. 5.

Return of the discs H0 and III to their neutral positions is accomplished by the follow-up system including shaft 28, gears 82, 83 and 84 for the fine control and shaft 18, gears 19, 80 and BI for the coarse control.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes we have set forth the principle and mode of operation of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

The invention herein described and claimed may be used and/or manufactured by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

We claim:

1. A remote control system for mechanism, comprising a movable control object, a high speed and a low speed transmitter operated thereby, a high speed receiver and a low speed receiver each having a rotor respectively operatively connected to be operated by said transmitters, the shafts of said rotors being aligned with their ends juxtaposed, a disc on the high speed rotor shaft hav- 1 ing a portion of less radius than the remainder of said disc and of slightly less than a semicircle in angular extent, a disc on said low speed rotor shaft having a portion of the same radius and angular extent as the said portion of less radius on the high speed disc While the remainder of the low speed disc is of substantially greater radius than is the portion of greater radius on the high speed disc, said low speed disc having notches concentric with the disc cut back from each end face of the portion of greater radius, the radius of the inner side of said notch being the same as that of said portion of less radius while the radius of the outer side of said notch is slightly less than the radius of said part of greater radius on the high speed disc whereby said notches are covered by the high speed disc when the discs are in their neutral positions but one or the other of said notches will be uncovered upon small rotation of the high speed disc, a light source disposed adjacent each of said notches, a photoelectric cell so disposed opposite each of said sources that a portion of a photoelectric cell is excited when a notch is uncovered and a difierent portion of a cell will be excited when said low speed disc is rotated from said initial position but a cell will not be excited while said discs remain in the initial position, and power means controlled as to direction and magnitude of movement by the output of said cells.

2. A remote control system, comprising two discs mounted to rotate about a common axial line, the periphery of each of said discs being cut away over an angular extent somewhat less than a semicircle, the radii of said cut away portions being equal, the remaining portion of the periphery of one disc being of greater radius than the remaining portion of the periphery of the other disc and having a notch cut in the radial face at each end thereof, the discs being so disposed in their neutral positions that said other disc covers said notches, a source of light disposed adjacent the neutral position of each notch, a respective photoelectric cell disposed adjacent each source but on the opposite side of said discs from the source, rotation of said one disc in either direction exposing a said cell to light from the source adjacent thereto over the periphery of the other disc, and rotation of said other disc in either direction from the neutral position exposing a photoelectric cell to light from the source cooperating therewith through a said notch, and means controlled for operation in opposite directions by the currents from said photoelectric cells.

CARLETON H. WRIGHT. GEORGE A. CHADWICK. PAUL W. BURK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,122,942 Kaminski Dec. 29, 1914 1,472,885 Perham Nov. 6, 1923 1,585,210 Roux May 18, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 381,202 Great Britain Sept. 26, 193 

